Park Hyatt Saigon’s Square One Business Set Lunch, Mo-Fr Square One restaurant at Park Hyatt Saigon is offering a Business Set Lunch from 12:00 noon to 2:30pm every weekday (Monday to Friday). Chef Satoru Takeuchi and his team prepare delicacies for a lunch that is guaranteed to offer nutrition, be time-effective and delectable.

Su-We, Jun 14-17, 2009 APCAC Washington Doorknock AmChams from the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC) will meet with Executive Branch and Congressional leaders in Washington, DC to advocate on behalf of Americans abroad during APCAC’s annual Washington meeting, known as the APCAC Washington Doorknock. Click the link for more information and Registration Form.

Th, Jun 25 Members Networking Night: “Saigon Gold” Fans of fast-moving thrillers, closet authors, and veterans who fought on both sides of the Second Indochina War won’t want to miss author Hugh Scott’s presentation of “Saigon Gold.” Scott uses slides of scenes from the novel to illustrate how he weaves his wartime experiences into an intriguing story set in contemporary Vietnam. Click the link for more info and to register for a fun evening.

News and Issues Updates

Forex market strained as demand overtakes dollar supply “This is an abnormal situation.” Deputy SBV Governor Binh said the dong is expected to fall against the dollar by 5-6 percent in 2009. But he added: “The state is fully able to balance foreign currency demands to serve its socioeconomic development, so there is no reason to expect a big devaluation of the dong.” Vietnam’s foreign currency reserves are now at $ 20 billion, enough to cover all trade imbalances, he said. In the first four months of this year, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of $ 2.6 billion.

Three dumpsites in HCMC to receive waste soon The city discharges 6,000 tons of waste each day, and all of it is being treated at two dumpsites, one at the Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex in Binh Chanh District and one at the Phuoc Hiep Waste Treatment Complex in Cu Chi District. Estimates are that HCMC will discharge 9,000 tons of waste per day by 2012 and 16,000 tons per day by 2020.

Sparton Corp Increases Business at Spartronics Vietnam Spartronics Vietnam, housed in a new 5,500 square-meter plant at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in the southern province, manufactures and assembles printed circuit boards, enclosures and black box solutions in various electronic segments.

Vietnam reveals details of $ 8 billion stimulus plan The bulk of the money, some $ 5.2 billion, will be used for infrastructure and development projects, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc before a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee.

Vietnam’s latest dollar clampdown has limited effect In the past 12 months, the mid-point has slipped more than 5 percent to 16,937 and the band has been widened from 1 to 5 percent, allowing the dong to weaken about 10 percent. For the past two weeks, the offshore non-deliverable spot forwards fix has also been outside the band, signalling expectations that the dong will weaken further. The NDF fix on Tuesday was 18,065.

CDC Telebriefing on Investigation of Human Cases of H1N1 Flu, May 11, 2009 ET There’s much to be done with an eye towards what will happen in the southern hemisphere and preparing for the fall here in the northern hemisphere. There are 116 CDC staff supporting outbreak response activities. Many of those efforts involve field investigations that are designed to strengthen our knowledge about how well this new virus is spreading, who is most at risk for illness, how effective prevention measures are, antiviral treatment and so forth.

ADB projects 4.5% growth for Vietnam The ADB annual Asian Development Outlook said growth in Asia’s developing economies would fall to 3.4 percent this year, with Southeast Asia as a whole almost stagnant with a 0.7 percent rise. However, “when it comes to Vietnam, actually we should not use the word ‘downturn’ or ‘recession.’ It’s just a slowdown,” ADB’s country economist for Vietnam said, projecting the growth to rebound to 6.5 percent in 2010.

Recent Events and Information Resources on AmCham Web Site

Th, May 14 Dr. Le Dang Doanh on Global Economic Crisis and Vietnam Outlook 2009 Dr. Le Dang Doanh, Member of the Board and Senior Research Fellow of the Vietnam Institute of Development Studies, will provide an overview of Vietnam’s current economic outlook and discuss the government’s economic stimulus programs and policies to encourage economic growth. Dr. Doanh is former President of the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM).

Event Presentations and PHOTO ALBUMS Did you miss an AmCham event? Were you there but wanted to have a copy of the presentation? Didn’t get the business card of the person you were talking with? Now you can download the presentations by clicking on the above link. Also, you can see a list of people that attended the event, with links to their company contact information.

Online Directory Looking for information on AmCham companies? Click here to browse the Online Directory for information about and contact points for over 450 AmCham companies, and over 900 representatives. Also with links to company web sites for even more information about American and international businesses in Ho Chi Minh City.

Benefits and Services Review AmCham benefits and services and learn how you can benefit from Networking Online, with about 100,000 visitors and 250,000 page-views per month to www.amchamvietnam.com.

Your announcement in AmCham’s Weekly Update email Early each week, AmCham’s Weekly Update email goes out to over 900 representatives of over 450 AmCham companies, plus thousands of subscribers in Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, and the USA. We welcome event announcements that are of interest to our business readers.